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by KathSilver



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, just a little ficlet i wrote way back when, post s02ep04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-11
Updated: 2012-12-11
Packaged: 2017-11-20 22:18:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/590251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KathSilver/pseuds/KathSilver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So there he was, after doing what should not have been humanly possible, about to finally be defeated by something as mundane as a flight of stairs.</p>
            </blockquote>





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**Author's Note:**

> No idea if I'll ever turn this into anything, I suppose I might, but who knows?

He was so close to his bed…  _so close_.

Stiles had made it from Scott’s car to his house, lying to Scott through his teeth by claiming that he was fine- which just goes to show you that Scott was either the worst werewolf in existence or just had a lot on his mind because the lie hadn’t set his nose on fire, and then Stile’s had made it from the front door to the stairs, but he just couldn’t take another step.

Every muscle was on fire, his bones were made of wax, and he had bypassed ‘shivering’ ages ago in favor of something far more violent. Although pain was all he could feel Stile’s swore that he was beginning to go numb, and as he stared at the large set of stairs in front of him, a tear burned its way down his cheek.

If he’d had the energy to care he would have blamed it on the chlorine.

He should have run when Derek had told him to- then none of this would have happened. But for some reason all of his instincts had screamed that he stay and so there wasn’t even a moment of doubt over his actions when he dove into the pool. That was, of course, before he knew exactly how long he would have to try to keep the both of them afloat. Derek weighed a ton, not to mention the fact that he was larger than Stiles, and there had been several times that he had almost given up- but no. So Derek thought that it was all done for survival? Fuck him. Stiles had done it because for better or worse he understood where the wolf was coming from, understood how pain could turn a person into a total jackass, and felt that Derek was actually worth something.

A notion, it seemed, that hadn’t crossed Derek’s mind in regards to Stiles.

And so he had blatantly ignored what Derek had said, and made to call Scott. It wasn’t  _his_  fault that it was right at that moment that Scott had chosen to ignore all signs that his best friend was in a life threatening situation. And when that plan didn’t work, Stiles went right back to saving Derek’s stupid life because damn it, Stiles Stilinski wasn’t helpless. He didn’t have super wolf powers? No problem. No need for them anyway when you could use basic chemicals to fry an Alpha and stubborn determination in order to stay afloat.

If he’d had to he would’ve talked the water into submission or something but there was no way that the both of them weren’t going to get out of that pool alive.

And they did.

After the paralysis had worn off of Derek, however, he had been just fine and dandy. It wasn’t as if  _he_  had to use every last drop of adrenaline and sheer fucking willpower to keep two people (well, one person one werewolf) above the water with no extra superpowers. Nope, Derek was just fine- perfectly capable of walking away in one of his usual dramatic exits while Stiles still had no idea how he was standing on the rubber stocks that had replaced his legs.

So there he was, after doing what should not have been humanly possible, about to finally be defeated by something as mundane as a flight of stairs.

Nothing in his life was fair. He was like the Charlie Brown- no, the Xander Harris of Beacon Hills. Only useful for witty dialogue, a good laugh, and minor heroics that always get ignored by everyone around him.

Only when his legs finally decided that they would no longer carry his weight and the pain of his muscles finally overcame him, a strong pair of arms caught him before he smashed to the ground.

“I suppose I should really stop underestimating you. How did you manage to make it this far without blacking out?”

Derek Hale.

Derek Hale was somewhere in his house besides his bedroom.

Stiles didn’t think he’d heard the front door, but of course front doors aren’t creepy enough for Derek Hale. Nope. It was windows or nothing for him- though Stiles thought that he might settle for a dilapidated attic entrance as well. Maybe.

Wait.

“Did you just pay me a compliment or did the chlorine kill my hearing?” he asked, forgetting already to be angry.

There was a moment of silence before Stiles was blessed with an answer, a rare occurrence. “Chlorine can’t damage your hearing, Stiles.”

His retort was startled out of his mind due to the fact that Derek had now picked him up and was in the process of carrying Stiles up and past the final enemy that had defeated him. But as soon as his body acknowledged Derek’s body heat, the severe shakes mutated into his own person earthquake. Even his heart felt like it was shaking, and his lungs felt so cold that he could hardly even breathe.

“Fuck- Stiles you’re freezing!” Derek mumbled, before speeding along straight to Stiles bathroom where he tried to divest the younger boy of his clothing.

“Y-ou ‘a-‘ve ‘got’n, b-but I w’s’n a po-ool f’r two ‘ours. No st-su-stup’rpwr’s for me, ‘mmbr?” was all that Stiles managed to stammer out in response. He was shaking so violently that his teeth had mashed his tongue while he had tried to force his words out.

He knew that Derek had spoken again, but he couldn’t hear what was said over his own yelp at being thrown under a steady stream of warm water. Stiles hadn’t even heard Derek start the shower- nor had he exactly noticed when he was stripped to nothing but his boxers. Disbelief began to run currents in Stiles mind- what the fuck was Derek doing here? Had he missed the part where they apparently did not like nor trust each other? Or the part where Stiles actions apparently hadn’t meant a damned thing?

But he was there. Silently sitting next to the shower while Stiles allowed the drops of water beating against his flesh to ease his muscles and force his blood temperature to rise.

He was there helping Stiles into the warmest pajamas the wolf had been able to find and carrying him from the bathroom and placing him into his bed.

The still silence was heavy while Derek had handed him a couple of aspirin and a glass of water (when had he gotten those?) and then proceeded to place what seemed like every blanket the Stilinki’s owned on top of him. He was silent, but he was there. Finally, Stiles remembered to ask him why.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you here?”

He saw the shutters fall into place over Derek’s eyes, and had almost given up hope that he would hear an answer before sleep claimed him, but finally Derek scrunched his eyes closed and rumbled, “Because I was wrong.”

But that didn’t make any sense… he had been prepared to hear something about a wolf code and life debt’s, not that. It was almost enough to make Stiles hope that maybe something had altered tonight between them. Shifted.

Stiles decided to push his luck and asked, “About?”

His willpower had lost the battle to his eyes, and was seconds away from losing to sultry call of sleep, when he heard movement at the window and a voice that had absolutely no right in the world to sound as soft as it did answer his question.

Stiles gave himself up to slumber with a small smile on his lips, the memory of Derek’s last word acting as a lullaby to send him to the land of peace.

“You.”


End file.
